Record Rains Leave 28 Dead, 4 Missing in South Japan Floods

Soldiers of the Ground Self Defence Force and other workers repair a collapsed bank of the Koura River in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, on July 14, 2012. Source: JIJI Press/AFP/GettyImages

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Police in southwestern Japan are
searching for four missing people after record rains triggered
landslides and flooding that killed 28 and forced almost a
quarter of a million to evacuate, Asahi newspaper reported
today.

Precipitation in Aso city on the southern main island of
Kyushu reached a record 50.75 centimeters (20 inches) for a 24-hour period, Japan Meteorological Agency said in a statement
yesterday. Heavy rain warnings were issued for Fukuoka, Saga and
Nagasaki prefectures on the island, the agency said on its
website today. As much as 5 centimeters of rain per hour are
expected in Fukuoka city today, the agency said.

Shirara Shiokawa, director of the agriculture ministry’s
management-improvement bureau, asked Japan Finance Corp. to
offer financial support to farmers in the region, the ministry
said in a statement on July 13. Tetsuo Morimoto, a parliamentary
secretary for the ministry, is visiting Kyushu’s Kumamoto and
Oita prefectures today to estimate the damage to farming from
the rains and landslides, according to its website.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ordered all the members of
his cabinet to offer assistance to people in the damaged areas
in Kyushu, including rescue operation, Noda said on Fuji
Television Network Inc.’s live program today.

The worst of the storm has passed, the agency said
yesterday. Torrential rains caused the collapse of 145 houses
and flooding of more than 800 residences, according to public
broadcaster NHK.

Four days of downpours through July 14 triggered landslides
and flooding that forced almost a quarter of a million to
evacuate and disrupted transportation in Kyushu. The region’s
rivers, including the Yamakuni, flooded, and people living
nearby were advised to evacuate, according to public broadcaster
NHK.